AJ Storr leads No. 24 Wisconsin past Chicago State; Badgers point guard Hepburn hurt

Dec 23, 2023, 04:26 am

MADISON, Wis. -- — AJ Storr scored a career-high 29 points and No. 24 Wisconsin beat Chicago State 80-53 on Friday night.

The Badgers' starting point guard, Chucky Hepburn, suffered a lower-body injury with 18:08 remaining in the game and did not return. Hepburn, who leads the Badgers in minutes and steals per game, crumpled to the floor on a breakaway following a steal and had to be helped from the court by teammates.

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said Hepburn would be sore, but is expected to be fine. The Badgers don’t play again until Jan. 2.

“He’ll just have some time off,” Gard said. “He was walking around the locker room afterwards.”

Storr, a sophomore transfer from St. John’s, hit 11 of 18 shots, including 3 of 5 beyond the arc. His previous career high was 23 points last season for the Red Storm. His best with Wisconsin was 22.

“For the most part, not a lot of bad shots,” Gard said. “I think he’s gotten better. As I’ve said many times, he might be our most improved player in the last two months, specifically defensively. He’s got areas to obviously get better at, but he’s come a long way in a short time.”

Steven Crowl added 13 points and Tyler Wahl had 11 for the Badgers (8-3).

Wesley Cardet Jr. scored 10 points on 4-of-22 shooting for Chicago State (7-10), which had its four-game winning streak snapped. That run included a win over then-No. 25 Northwestern in which Cardet had 30 points.

“Four games in eight days, he looked tired,” Chicago State coach Gerald Gillion said. “He got to the rim at will, couldn’t finish some of those, but that’s the way the ball bounces.”

Storr scored 20 points in the first half as Wisconsin led 38-25 at the break. In the second half, his rebound jam capped a 9-0 run that put the Badgers ahead 52-29.

Wisconsin gained separation early with a 14-1 run, taking a 20-5 lead on a pair of free throws by Crowl with 11:24 left in the half.

The Cougars missed their first 11 shots before Noble Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 10:08 left.

“One thing I can say is that Wisconsin is a tournament team that has a chance to make a good run,” Gillion said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Chicago State: Playing an independent schedule this season before moving to the Northeast Conference in 2024-25, the Cougars are at California Baptist next. Then they face DePaul, Kansas State and Oklahoma State between Dec. 30 and Jan. 3.

Wisconsin: Players and staff wore white T-shirts with the words “Walt Strong” in tribute to former player Walt McGrory, who died Saturday of bone cancer at age 24. McGrory appeared in 37 games off the bench over four seasons at Wisconsin and was part of the 2019-20 team that won a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

UP NEXT

Chicago State is at California Baptist on Wednesday.

Wisconsin hosts Iowa on Jan. 2.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball